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Friday, October 4, 2013

You beat her up, tore her down. With words, you shamed her, manipulated her, broke her into pieces. With words, you told her she was worthless, helpless, ugly, weak, and damaged. With words, you told her that she was unfit to be a mother, that she could not raise her daughter. With words, you sent the heart she had given you into a frozen wasteland. You demeaned her, stole her vitality, broke her spirit.

How do you feel? Does it make you feel that much more of a man to know you can tear a woman down like that? Does it make you feel strong to know that with words alone you can make her feel as if she has no worth at all? Do you take pride when she says it was her fault?

The sounds of grunts, muttered exclamations, flesh slapping flesh, and bodies hitting the hard, wood floor echoed through the room, interspersed with sudden bursts of laughter. The couple grappling on the floor strained against each other, the woman fighting to free herself from the choke hold and the legs pinning her own legs apart. She was on top of her male opponent, back pressed against his chest as she strained to free herself. The woman was scrabbling at the arm around her neck, when a startled exclamation was heard.